Nightmare on Michigan Ave
I begin my walk at the Black Hawks store, my favorite store in Chicago! As I walk down N Michigan Ave, I take a minute to look around and take a deep breath. This street has always been what I pictured Chicago as. I try to take a picture, but it’s so beautiful that a picture doesn’t do it justice.
I step onto the bridge and immediately feel the breeze from the water. The bridge starts to shake as cars and trucks pass through. I stop in the middle of the bridge and look to the river. My moment of silence was abrupted by a hand that tapped my shoulder. I look up and a man who asks me, “Can you please take a picture of my family and me.” He had a thick British Accent which caught my attention very fast. I smile and tell him “Of course I can!” Once I take the picture, he asks me if I know any good restaurants nearby. I gave him a few suggestions such as Grand Lux, one of my favorites, which happened to be right down the street. He thanked me, and we parted ways.
I see a Labradoodle with three legs limping right next to me. Even though he had three legs, he was moving extremely fast. I notice a herd of birds walking on the floor, and as soon as I came near them, they hurried away. I am bombarded by a small white boy who was dressed as Simba from Lion King. A small girl with brown hair and blue eyes skips by me holding an American Girl doll in her arms. The doll looked exactly like her, down to her freckles. I smell fresh candy and notice a candy store called Dylan’s Candy Bar. I was extremely tempted to go inside by I stopped myself. I spot a beautiful set of flowers that I have never seen before. They were enormous and reminded me of dinosaurs. I see three different statues of German Shepards that had the Chicago flag painted on them. I see a lady swinging around a Garrett’s popcorn bag, which made me crave their caramel popcorn. A lady with blue hair passes by and get a strong breeze of Marijuana. It was so overpowering that I had to look away.
I pass by a strip of restaurants, and my nose gets overwhelmed with different smells. Chocolate, coffee, fried chicken, fries, and hot dogs. Each smell only lasted a few seconds, but they each made me hungry. As I’m thinking about food, I decided to go to Chipotle, which is across the street. So I wait until I see the little white man signaling for me to cross. As I am crossing, I hear a CRASH! I look ahead, only 3 feet away I see a black Camaro smack into a silver Honda. Then he sped away before the man in the Honda could get out of the car. I was so shocked that I just stood there in the middle of the road terrified. A man came up to me, thinking I got hit and screamed, “Are you ok?! Do you need an ambulance.” At first, I stared at him blankly, then I quickly responded, “Oh no, I am fine, I didn’t get hit.” It was so surreal and indescribable. This trip started out so peaceful and ended so saddening.
As I try to salvage the last part of my walk, I come across something very disturbing. I see a huge Burberry store with four different homeless men sitting around each corner of the street. I hear people leaving the store talking about where they want to eat that is classy and nice. All I can think about is, while people are buying silly purses for thousands of dollars, people right down the street are dying to get a couple of dollars. This made me rethink coming to Michigan Avenue. As a kid, I used to love it, but now I see the divide that is deep-rooted on the streets of Chicago.
Jacobs asks, “Why is a good steak house usually in an old building?” Why indeed? Based on your reading of Jacobs’s article, why is a good steak house usually in an old building? Are there any good Chicago steak houses in old buildings?
Typically in Chicago, a “good steakhouse” would be located inside an older building. I never really realized this until my dad pointed it out once. Steakhouses choose to stay in older buildings to give off a certain vibe/theme. They want to create a cozy, yet classy environment to enjoy your expensive meal. A new building that is made that is modern would not be an ideal location to have a steakhouse. Modern buildings don’t create a cozy environment because they are too big and don’t have a history. Also, steak houses usually have a story behind their opening, and it usually includes a family-owned business. The story behind the restaurant plays an important factor. People like to come and support small businesses that are family based. A smaller environment creates a more comfortable setting for the people who come to choose and eat there. In an older, smaller building the customers become like a family, and that attracts a lot of individuals. The top two steak houses that my dad has taken me to are Gibson’s and Lawry’s, both in an older building that is small, but cozy. These two places sell delicious food and have a lovely environment.
